An example of this is seen in the administration of bequests made by public-spirited men for the single purpose (at least ostensibly) of furthering the facility of human life in some particular respect.

The objects for which bequests of this class are most frequently made at present are most frequently made at present are schools, libraries, hospitals, and asylums for the infirm or unfortunate.

The avowed purpose of the donor in these cases is the amelioration of human life in the particular respect which is named in the bequest; but it will be found an invariable rule that in the execution of the work not a little of other motives, frequency incompatible with the initial motive, is present and determines the particular disposition eventually made of a good share of the means which have been set apart by the bequest.

Certain funds, for instance, may have been set apart as a foundation for a foundling asylum or a retreat for invalids.

The diversion of expenditure to honorific waste in such cases is not uncommon enough to cause surprise or even to raise a smile.